Nightmare of Nightshift

The struggle starts immediately after our reporting in night shift.

In spite of many new departments which are now in existence in order to improve productivity, reduce expenditure and bring the working culture at par with the international standard in the industry by an expense of crores and crores of rupees; all such department may show their worth in future but it seems wasteful expenditure at ground level. No one is there to take decision and function as a bridge to share information at top level.

Engineers who are waiting for their aircraft to work with in maintenance in night shift, are taken aback when they realised that the sun is about to rise in the east and he had just wasted whole night waiting for spares, arranging and managing with only one Wheel Jack, no proper steps to work with, only one APU step, Leaking TP gauges and U/S HP gauges. Nitrogen bottles with low pressure and without proper opening tool.

Early in the morning at departure; where he ;some how managed to do the assigned inspection and ready down below the nose, a call from A/H embarrassed him when she asks for replacement of dirty seat covers, hanging galley curtains for want of its hooks, missing soap solution and stinking lavatory with low and no water in the galley.

He remains unanswered thinking he even could not managed to replace even a wheel due no Jack and even no wheels for couple of days, what to answer her about her query. How much serious are we really about the turning around our ailing carrier?

Can our aircraft & Airlines survive the fierce competition without well maintained aircraft with shabby looking interiors? We have a doubt but may be top management looking upward away from our working environment & climatic condition towards western experts. Their technique to revive our airlines was happily accepted in past by spending huge money but was of no use.

It is better that we should focus doing small thing to achieve big-to revive/turning around our airlines.

We must focus and invest money to procure spares for Airframe, engine and APU.

Based upon fleet repetitive snags, spares must be placed and planned where ever that aircraft is doing night halt.

Years long demand of maintenance crew of placing A/C Jacks (other than one), Steps needed for maintenance, sky jack for APU, Nitrogen bottles, TP & HP gauges, Placement of universal kit, A/C seats, galley curtain hooks and other spares to rectify pax seats & its back rest, table etc must be met with.

Radome, oleo and air intake for all the night halt a/c must be cleaned by our engineering helper other than deep cleaning.

Procurement & Placement of spares will minimise the grounding/cancellation of the aircraft and then we can have an edge over other private carriers and lure the passengers.

Unless above stated small things are not planned and met with, maintenance crew nightmare may last longer and whatever our top executive plan to take a big leap in the process of revival will be of no use.